Doctor Dad
by Niki Bogwater
Summary: For Moriah and Katie. When the Doctor takes on ten-year-old Kathryn as his newest companion, the universe suddenly seems a whole lot bigger, now that he has someone to be a dad for.
1. Chapter One

_Obla-dee, obla-dah, life goes on, brah!_

_La la, honey life goes on._

_Obla-dee obla-da, life goes-_

"Would you please turn off that INFERNAL racket!" The Doctor bellowed, well aware that the TARDIS was only trying to help. He was thrust against the wall as she hummed in disapproval, but at least the music stopped.

The Doctor rubbed his face with his hands, sniffing a bit. Really, he didn't have that much against The Beatles. They had been Amy's favorite band, though Rory abhorred them. But right now, they were the last people in the world he wanted to think about. Probably not the best way to deal with his grief, but it was the only way he knew how. The only thing he was really good at was running, even if it meant running from himself.

He collapsed in the Captain's chair, mulling over the past few days, despite his passionate desire to forget that they had ever come to pass. The Ponds had returned to the TARDIS, and he had felt, for just a little while, the constant emptiness in his hearts begin to fill up. And now they were gone again, snatched from him by the reality of what he was; danger. He had seriously considered finding a mallet somewhere in the TARDIS and using it to bash in every Weeping Angel's skull in the entirety of creation.

He felt hollow, like an empty boat, sinking without anyone to guide it. There were times when he cursed his sensitivity, but none more than those painful days that followed the loss of his companions. He wasn't even sure why he took on companions in the first place. It only ended in heartbreak. And yet...they were all just so brilliant, it almost made the heartbreak worth it.

Rose. She had patched him up and taught him to love again. Falling in love with her had been the singularly most terrible and wonderful experience of his life, and he never, ever wanted to do that again. Unfortunately, River had broken that resolve. Rose would still always be a piece of him though, especially since he WAS technically married to her in a way, at least, he was if his Meta-Crisis counterpart knew what was good for him. The TARDIS hummed soothingly, as his wandering mind meandered further...

Martha. Brilliant girl. Positively fantastic. Sometimes he had felt that if she just had a little something more, she'd be Rose. There was no telling what that little something was. All he had known was that Rose had it, and Martha didn't. Still, he counted her as one of the few blessings that had been bestowed on him in all of his filthy nine-hundred-and-some years.

Donna was a spark in the midst of the black abyss that had become his life. Perhaps she wasn't the smartest, or the prettiest (heaven forbid. He had sworn off pretty girls after Rose had gone...well...More or less...Alright, maybe less...River was definitely a looker. TARDIS hummed again. Right, back on track), but she had been an absolutely refreshing specimen of human. He's always secretly enjoyed seeing her worked up. Her eyes would ignite and bulge with a fiery passion, and her face would set into something he had called a "I would kill you if he wasn't here to stop me" face. He owed her more than he could ever give back.

And now he was up to Amy and Rory. His family. From the moment he had landed in little Amelia Pond's kitchen and made the oddly calm girl cater to his unfamiliar taste buds, he knew he'd found someone he just couldn't bear to part with. From her stony resolve to her childlike insecurities, he had loved every single molecule in her. And Rory was...well, he was Rory. It was hard to describe. He found that because Amy loved him, he loved him too. Or perhaps it was because Rory loved Amy so much that he immediately grew attached to him and his ridiculously large nose...He wasn't sure which. All he knew was that his hearts had been ripped into a million pieces the moment that Weeping Angel touched them. It hurt more than anything had since Rose had been sucked into that blasted parallel world.

The TARDIS lurched suddenly, alerting him to yet another one of the universe's trifling problems. Begrudgingly locking on to the distress signal, he piloted his ship into what seemed to be a back alley, somewhere in London. Throwing on his coat and straightening his bow tie, he lept out the doors, eager to leave his heavy memories behind for the present.

He was immediately reintroduced to the pungent odor of a back alley. Right, these places always did smell of trouble...quite literally. The pounding of trainers on the asphalt assured him that he had indeed found his distress signal, and he jubilantly bounded around a corner towards the sound.

"OOF!" He was sent sprawling on the ground as a small object collided with his body, whatever it was making a noise of discomfort as they both landed on the concrete. A small redhead (why were they ALWAYS ginger?) reassembled herself on the ground, as The Doctor quickly righted himself before whatever was chasing her could get there. "It's always something, isn't it?" she moaned, examining her scraped knee. "Fine. Do whatever. You caught me. Let's just get this over with."

"Right, well, you're just a bundle of sunshine, aren't you?" The Doctor grumbled, holding out a hand to help her up, which seemed to confuse her. "I'm The Doctor, and I'm here to save the world."

"Right...Well, it's not the world that needs saving, just me." She eyed his hand warily. "What kind of dope do you deal?"

"What?"

"Oh, excellent timing, sir!" said a slimy voice that made The Doctor's spine go rigid. The girl quickly assessed the situation, then finally took his hand and pulled herself up, ducking behind him.

"Right, don't know who you are, but drug-dealers can't be as bad as pedophiles. You just arrange some way to get me out of this, yeah?"

"What?" The Doctor said again. The pounding of heavy trainers slowed as a group of teenagers rounded the corner.

"Thank goodness!" said a greasy-haired boy with several missing teeth. The Doctor felt his gut flip at the sight of him, and instinctively reached for his Sonic Screwdriver. "Katie, we've been looking for you everywhere! Thank you so much, mister, our mother has been frantic about my little sister here."

"If you believe one word he says, you're either unbelievably cruel, or unbelievably stupid..." the girl snarled from behind him.

"I would like to think of myself as neither..." He fought to keep a passive front. "Hello, boys. I'm The Doctor, and I'm here to save...well, not the world, just this...polite young lady you seem so eager to...associate with."

Thanks to The Doctor's absolutely brilliant people skills, he and his newest companion found themselves running for their lives back to the TARDIS, with a mob of sickening teenagers sprinting after them.

"You could've just let them take me!" the girl shouted over their pounding feet as The Doctor slid around a corner. She tried to sound annoyed, but she couldn't completely cover up how touched she was.

"Oi, what sort of Doctor would I be then? Nope, not that way, there's a brick wall!"

"But there's a dumpster back that-"

_Thunk!_

"...way."

"Found it, thanks..." The Doctor muttered, rubbing his nose.

"Frankly, you aren't much of a doctor either way," the ginger commented as The Doctor franticly snapped his sweaty fingers to open the TARDIS doors.

"In here, NOW!" he shouted, tugging her arm and preparing for a fight. She followed with docility that surprised him, and he slammed the doors behind them, panting as he leaned against them. "Right...well, that was fun. Proper introductions now, though." He straightened out and faced the girl. "I'm The Doctor, and I don't deal drugs, first of all."

"Doctor what?"

"It's not 'what,' it's 'who."

"What?"

"No. 'Who.'"

"Who?"

"Yes."

"Who what?"

"No, just 'who.'"

"What?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because 'what' is grammatically incorrect, and anyways, 'Doctor Who' sounds so much better than 'Doctor What.'"

"Who?"

"Yes."

"You?"

"Yes, that's me. Doctor Who. Well, actually, just The Doctor, but it's so much fun to hear people say that..."

"Right...okay, well, I'm Katie. Not Katie Who or What or whatever...Hmm...bigger on the inside. Cute little trick, I must say," the Katie said calmly, looking around. the TARDIS hummed appreciatively.

"You're not...er...surprised?"

"My head is bigger on the inside too. Not sure how, but it is. This can't be much different, can it?" she said matter-of-factly, running her hand over the control panel curiously.

"No...I rather like that, actually...You an author or something?"

"Occasionally. Bit more of a runner, really."

"Really?" The Doctor perked up, momentarily tempted to do something he would later regret. Before he was able to stop himself, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "It travels in time, too...Anywhere in time and space." Katie's eyes widened and shone in a way The Doctor found irresistible.

"Take me, then."

"What?"

"Take me somewhere."

"I should be taking you home..."

"Well, you don't know where that is, do you? And until you take me somewhere, I'm not telling you." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, suddenly reminded of Amy handcuffing him to a car door and drilling him for answers.

"Fine. One trip. Only one, then I'm taking you back to your family." Katie winced suddenly, and The Doctor was tempted to question her, but she spoke too fast.

"Fine. One trip. Take me somewhere amazing."

**A/N: There we go! Finally finished the first chapter. So, Katie, what do you think? Any suggestions you have are appreciated (after all, this is yours and your sister's book). Anyone else is also free to review and suggest. Ciao for now!**

**-Niki Bogwater**


	2. Chapter Two

"Right!" The Doctor flung his jacket at Katie, who ignored it and let it fall on the floor. "...You were supposed to catch that..."

"Where are we going?" she asked, eyeing the control panel curiously.

"I have no idea!" The Doctor said jovially. Katie didn't appear to be disturbed in the least. "Hold down that button over there."

"This one?"

"No, the purple one."

"There isn't a purple one over here..."

"There isn't?" The Doctor craned his neck to see around the console. "Oh, she must've moved it..." He looked around frantically. "How about giving us a hint?" he called to the ceiling. The TARDIS lurched and sent The Doctor flying against the other wall. "Ah, there it is. Bit inconvenient spot though..." He hopped back up and moved Katie over a few feet. "Right, just hold that for me...You're going to have to let go of the handrail..." Katie glared at him incredulously, before hesitantly unclenching her white knuckles.

"What was all that for, then?" she grumbled, cautiously laying a finger on the inconspicuous button, making the entire ship sway again.

"Washn't meh!" The Doctor insisted, Sonic Screwdriver between his teeth as he randomly poked and pulled at neon-colored wires weaving in and out of a dashboard. "TARDIS just has a more...sarcastic way of answering my questions, is all." The ship lurched again, and The Doctor wound up with his face smooshed against a screen. "Now don't get upset, dear, I'm simply pointing out one of my favorite things about you!" He snatched up his Sonic before it could roll away.

"So this thing is alive? You've got a spaceship that breathes and thinks and lives like...like an animal?" TARDIS lurched unhappily, and Katie had to let go of the purple button to grip the handrail.

"She's not an animal," the Doctor said reproachfully. "She's a person. And...well, yes, she is alive. Not sure she breathes too much...I dunno, do you need to breathe, Sexy?"

"Either you bumped your nose on that dumpster harder than we thought, or I'm passed out in an alley again."

"What do you mean again...? Wait, you didn't let go of the purple button, did you?"

"Ummm..." Katie glanced down at her hands, which were occupied in clinging to the handrail for dear life, and were, unfortunately, button-free.

"Oh, no no no no no no NO! We're veering off course!" The Doctor cried gleefully, looking very happy about this turn of events. "I really DON'T know where we're off to now!" The TARDIS landed with something like a cross between a thump and a purr, which sounded very odd from the inside, and The Doctor bounded to the door, sweeping up his coat from the floor and throwing it on. "It's alright," he said to Katie, who had refused to let go of that blasted handrail. "She's landed now, she won't budge until we come back." He held out a hand, eagerly awaiting the feeling of someone else's fingers slipping through his companionably. Katie glared at his hand before cautiously taking it.

"I only trust you because you're just a step above everyone else I've met. You fall down that step, and you lose that trust," she said harshly.

"Oh dear...I fall down stairs all the time...Oh, wait, you're talking metaphorically, aren't you? Oh well, doesn't matter. Geronimo!"

"Wait-!" The Doctor threw open the doors and bounded outside, dragging Katie with him.

It smelled worse than the alley here. Huge conifer trees towered over them menacingly, and the incessant droning of flies made Katie's ears tingle. The Doctor didn't seem to be fazed.

"It smells like the dairy yard in here..." Katie choked.

"No, that's not a cow sort of smell...Strange, it does seem familiaAAAAH! Move, move move move MOVE!" The Doctor swung Katie around behind the TARDIS, as an absolutely enormous foot crushed the high grass where they had just been standing.

"What is that?!" Katie squeaked, unintentionally pressing closer to The Doctor.

"Oh, you are absolutely beautiful!" The Doctor breathed, his head tilted all the way back, not even looking at the "Stomping Death Foot."

"What? Doctor, we nearly died!"

"Yes, but we didn't. Now stop whining about inconsequential things and look at this!"

"Inconsequential?! Look, I don't know what planet you're from, but dying isn't exactly something I brush off easily!"

"But look at that! That's just absolutely gorgeous!"

"It's a giant foot that looks like a tree stump!"

"Oh, you humans never look at the broader scheme..." The Doctor grumbled, lifting a very alarmed Katie as high as he could. "Just look at that!" Katie, not eager to look down, as The Doctor was rather tall and she was afraid of heights, did as he instructed, and squeaked again.

"Down!" she shrieked, wriggling out of The Doctor's grasp to hide behind his legs.

"But just look at it!"

"I'm done looking, thanks. Can we go back in, now?"

"Ohhh, hello, I believe he's noticed us. HELLOOOOOO UP THERE!"

"I'm stuck in the Triassic with a death-seeking idiot..." Katie moaned as the longest neck she had ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on, bent very slowly towards The Doctor.

"This is the Jurassic, Kathryn. Brachiosaurus wasn't there during the Triassic. Although, after we're done here, we could go see what WAS galloping around back then. Oh, hello, there's the head!" If Katie thought the neck was disconcerting, it was nothing compared to the head. A small, bulbous lump with two liquid brown eyes and a greasy nose inspected The Doctor curiously. "Oh, look, Katie, it likes us!"

"It likes YOU," Katie insisted, refusing to budge from her shelter behind him. Meanwhile, The Doctor was busy rubbing a sensitive spot right beneath the dinosaur's disgusting excuse for a chin, making the thing purr with a sound that rippled through the ground and made Katie feel very uncomfortable.

"Who's a snuggly wuggly Brachiosaurus? Yes, you're just so beautiful."

"I think I must've died a long time ago and this is my Purgatory..." Katie moaned.

"Oh, would you calm down? It's a herbivore. Eats trees. We're definitely not what he would consider appealing. Especially you. How'd you get so skinny, anyways?"

"Thank you, Casanova. But whether or not it likes burgers, the fact is that Twinkle Toes here still nearly crushed us."

"Oh, you hear that, Brachi? She's named you! Oh, you've got to tell me how you get people to like you so quickly."

"WHAT?" Katie was suddenly struck with the depressing realization that today was going to be a very long day. "Twinkle Toes" snorted suddenly, and his ugly head disappeared again as he raised his neck.

"Ooh...hello..." The Doctor pulled out his sonic as Twinkle Toes snuffed the air with a loud gasp that reverberated through the valley.

"Doctor..." Katie said slowly. "Is it just me or is the ground shaking a little?" The Doctor shook his sonic.

"Oh...Um...You remember how I said this was the Jurassic?"

"Yeeeeah..." Katie said slowly, hoping this wasn't going where she thought it was.

"You know who else was galloping around during the Jurassic?" A horrible crunching sound made Katie jump, and The Doctor found himself trying to regain his balance as she clung to his back.

"Okay, ummm...If I remember my manual on T-Rex survival..."

"Oh, come off it, you never had one of those!" Katie squeaked as Twinkle Toes snorted, rasped, and let out something that just barely sounded like a roar, and galloped off...very, very slowly.

"Yeeeah...Okay, so maybe I don't, but most survival manuals say that if all else fails, there is one last-resort technique for escape."

"Which is...?"

"RUN!"

**A/N: Happy Easter! I worked extra hard on this chapter so that I could get it done for you as an Easter present! And that was no easy task, considering I'm spending my Spring Break in Colorado with family. But they were very nice about letting me have my writing time. Moriah, make sure Katie reads this, please. See you in Chapter Three! :)**

**-Niki Bogwater**


	3. Chapter Three

"Well this is just grand now, isn't it?" Katie yelled over the ear-splitting crashes behind them.

"Oi! You're the one who wanted a trip!"

"I'm also the one who chooses drug lords with 'trip' boxes over stimuli-seeking pedophiles. When am I gonna catch myself a break..."

"I TOLD you, I don't deal drugs!" The Doctor swung her around a very large conifer tree, and their pursuer, not expecting the sudden turn, slid to a halt and nearly keeled over. Katie winced as it bellowed angrily.

"Just a bit more! Come on!" The Doctor tugged on her hand as she started to slow. She fought to get air into her lungs, her throat burning as the rancid smells of the Jurassic nature poured through her nostrils. "We're almost there!" The Doctor pleaded. "It can't get in the TARDIS, just a little further!"

"Aagh!" Katie cried out as she tripped over a root and went sprawling against the tough grass beneath her. "M-my ankle..." she gasped. The Doctor hovered over her for a split second, unsure of what to do. The Tyrannosaurus had righted himself and was crashing through the underbrush, straight for them. Katie couldn't move. The Doctor scooped her up and kept going, praying his strength would hold out until-

Too late. A heavy fern swooped down in front of them and snapped in The Doctor's face. Katie whimpered painfully as he collapsed to his knees, just a few metres from the TARDIS. He curled up around Katie, wishing he could apologize for bringing here, wishing he could at least find her parents and let them know what had happened to their daughter. The thundering footsteps were right on top of them, now, and Katie could feel the hot putrid breath blowing against her neck. She screamed as the predator lunged at them, teeth bared.

"BRAAAAWOOOOR!" The ground shook with the sheer volume of Twinkle Toes' cry as he thundered through the underbrush and nearly trampled the Tyrannosaur, who only just barely managed to duck out of the way. That was all that was needed. Sheltered by the chaos of Twinkle Toes' interruption, he scooped Katie up again and made a rather impressive leap for safety, somehow managing to open the doors and throw her inside before slamming it shut behind them.

* * *

"Okay, that's it, I said one trip, now you're going home," The Doctor panted, leaning against the doors of the TARDIS, as a very disappointed Tyrannosaurus scrabbled at the TARDIS doors, whimpering at the loss of such succulent snacks.

"...Only one?" Katie said softly, chewing her bottom lip.

"Look, there is an entire universe out there, and most of it would probably kill you." The Doctor patted her shoulder absently as he flipped a few switches at the console.

"They wouldn't kill me if you were there..." The Doctor froze, Katie's words digging into him, piercing each of his hearts like nails. Quickly re-assembling himself, he turned and knelt to her eye-level, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Look...I'm going to tell you a secret that most parents don't want their kids to know..." Katie visibly perked up, interested. "Us grown-ups...We make mistakes. Sometimes we're wrong. Sometimes we're too slow. Sometimes we go so fast we leave the people we love behind. I can't always be there for you...and that's why you've got to go home. Understand?"

"They're not there for me at home, either," Katie shot back, her fists clenching. "They're never there! Not grown-ups, not my friends, not anyone! At least you came for me once. I...I've never had that..." For a moment, it sounded like the TARDIS itself had stopped running, like she, too was trying to comprehend what Katie had just said.

"Kathryn..." The Doctor began, very slowly and very quietly. "Where are your mum and dad?"

"They're gone," she said dully. "They left me like everyone else does. Just never came back. Moriah said-"

"Who's Moriah?" The Doctor interrupted.

"She's a volunteer at the orphanage. Been one for years, they say. She said she found me in a box when I was a baby. Wrapped in a towel that smelled like cigarettes and left in the alley. She tried askin' around, but no one came for me. No one ever does." She kept her voice cold, controlled, as though she didn't care about her own past. But The Doctor never once broke his gaze with her, and he could easily see that through her facade of disinterest, her eyes were sparkling with tears.

Sighing laboriously, well aware that he would regret this later on, The Doctor pulled Katie into a silent hug, remembering some of his own loneliness as a child. It was hard for him to not empathize with her. And either way, he'd regret whatever choice he made, either to leave her on her own or take her with him. Might as well go with what she wanted for now.

"So...can I stay?" Katie said slowly, her voice muffled in his shoulder.

"I'm so going to regret this..."

"THANK YOU!" she squealed, nearly choking him as her arms flew around his neck.

"Now, we're not going anywhere until you've made some...agreements."

"Such as...?" Katie suddenly retracted her grip, looking skeptical.

"First, no wandering off! You wouldn't believe how many reasonable adults can't get that through their thick heads! And I'm not taking you anywhere until you promise to stay exactly where I tell you, exactly when I tell you."

"Good thing I'm not an adult then. Okay, I promise."

"Second, I'm in charge here. You are to do precisely what I say precisely when I say it."

"Your grammar is a bit off, but message received. You're my new dad now, so do as you say."

"Look, Katie, I'm not your fath-"

"Well, you're certainly acting like one," Katie interrupted, hands on her hips. "_'I'm the grown-up, I make the rules, you're my kid, you're gonna listen to me.'_"

"You're not my kid, you're my...companion."

"Same thing."

"Look, just don't call me dad, okay?"

"Are you kidding? I don't want people thinking I'm related to you!" Her eyes wandered until they rested on his bow tie, looking thoroughly disgusted at the idea.

"Bow ties are cool," The Doctor insisted, adjusting his. "Right, so now that we have an understanding...Where shall we be off to, Kathryn?"

"If I can't call you dad, you can't call me Kathryn."

"Fine then...Katie, where do you want to go first?"

"You mean I get to choose?"

"Well, for this one time, anyways. All of time and space, pick and choose..."

Katie's eyes shone so brightly, it was as though someone had replaced them with little pieces of stars, and The Doctor's hearts leapt at the sight of it like they hadn't done since Amy had first asked him to help with the crack in her wall. This was one adventure he knew he would enjoy...

**A/N: Ack! I'm so sorry for the delay! Independence Day traveling and writer's block, and the usual lousy excuses. Moriah and Katie obviously need to leave their reviews (hint hint!) because they won't see me until Religious Education starts back up. Anybody else...Meh, I'll still appreciate their reviews as well.**

**Ciao!  
-Niki Bogwater**


	4. Chapter Four

"Soooo...When slash where are we?" It turned out, Katie had absolutely no idea where she wanted to go, so The Doctor had settled for just punching random buttons until they landed somewhere he knew of.

"The planet Zykrex, at its height in the sixty-fifth century. Lovely place for a vacation, lots of sun...well, should I say, suns..."

"Yeah, thought it was a bit bright..." Katie shaded her eyes with her hand and peered up at the hard blue sky, the three distant suns piercing through the coolness like knives.

"Don't worry, they give out sunglasses at the pool."

"Pool? We're going swimming?"

"Well obviously! Why do you think I made you bring your swim-suit? Can't visit a planet with three suns and not go to the universe's number one hot-spot for swimming. And yes, that pun WAS intended, thank you," he added, twirling a bit for effect.

"So, do humans live here?"

"Not many. Mostly tourists. It's a hot planet, swaddled in tropical rainforests with mosquitoes the size of wasps. It's best not to stick around for long unless you're a local."

"And what exactly are the locals?"

"Well, they're Zy-"

"Hands in the air!" The Doctor was suddenly and uncomfortably re-introduced to the feeling a having a gunpoint shoved in the small of his back.

"Right...okay, Kathryn..." he said very softly, glancing sideways over his shoulder. "Looks like the pool might have to wait..."

"Orgune, check the child..." a gravely voice instructed.

"Doctor, what did I do?"

"It's fine, it's okay. Just hold still, probably just want to check your bag. Katie, meet the Zykrexia."

It looked human...well, sort of. Katie blinked once or twice as one of the said Zykrexia walked around to face her, roughly grabbing hold of her chin and staring down her right eye. The skin was tough as leather, hot and dry in the afternoon sun, a peculiar shade of what The Doctor would later call heliotrope. There was an odd sort of bulge at the top of the head, which made it like a bit like a large, purplish mushroom. Aside from unnaturally long and dark eyelashes, Katie was unable to spot any other hair or fur. Of course, it was difficult to see anything when she was being held up on her toes by her chin.

"...'Scuse me," The Doctor began tentatively. "I hate to interrupt, but what exactly..."

"She is unmarked." The Zykrexian holding her put her back down roughly, and Katie grunted softly as she was shoved to her knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed The Doctor starting towards her, but whatever brilliant idea he'd come across to get her out of this one was immediately discouraged as the other Zykrexian prodded him in between the shoulders with its gun.

"What do you mean she's unmarked?" he demanded a little more forcefully. "Oi! What are you..." Katie felt something hot and hard snap around her neck.

"Doctor...I don't think this is a luggage check..." Katie squeaked. There was a sharp tug around her neck, and she was jerked to her feet. A chain. She was on a chain, like some sort of dog. "Doctor...!" she called a little more forcefully.

"WHAT IN BLOODY-" Katie slammed her hands over her ears as The Doctor swore.

"This one's gonna fight," one of the Zykrex growled. "We'll need to call in a containment pod. Orgune?" Katie dove to her knees to avoid choking as Orgune jerked her chain down. The Doctor was making an impressive amount of noise behind her, but Katie decided it would be wise to keep her head down, and only managed to catch snatches of the conversation between all the cussing from both sides.

"...unmarked baggage must be..."

"...This is a direct violation of Shadow Proclamation, Article seventeen...!"

"This is Unit Fifteen, we have an unmarked here, and we need some backup..."

"No amount of backup can stand against the wrath of a Time Lord!" The Doctor thundered. Orgune froze, and the Zykrex who had been handling The Doctor looked thoroughly terrified for a moment.

"How...How DARE you!" Orgune bellowed, stalking toward him. Katie heard a dull thud and chanced a look up in time to see The Doctor hit the sandy ground, clutching his stomach.

"Doctor!" she stood over him, her normally white eyes flaring red beneath her long dark lashes. "No, don't hurt him!"

"We sacrificed thousands of our kind to aide in the Time War of the Gallifreyan gods!" Orgune hissed. _Gallifreyan gods...? _"You will pay for your blasphemy!" Katie tried to get to her feet but she was thrown down swiftly by Orgune's companion.

"Kathryn, hold still!" The Doctor ordered calmly, getting to his knees breathlessly. "Keep your head down and they won't hurt you. I'll just be a few minutes in the TARDIS and I'll be back with the paperwork to get us out of this mess. And mark me," he added, glancing darkly up at Orgune. "It will be a LOT of paperwork..."

* * *

Katie's throat was too dry for her to gasp, yet her mouth fell open in silent shock as she was shoved into a dark, cool cell. It was cramped with at least a dozen girls, all her age. Some were human like her, others were members of species she had never known existed. She started as the door slammed shut behind her. All the girls glanced up at her, and her heart caught in her throat at the sight of their sunken, despairing eyes. They quickly looked back down, as though they had caught sight of a pornography magazine. All of them were in chains, even the smallest one, who looked like some sort of elf-thing with antennae.

"What...IS this place?" Katie gasped, then clutched at her sore throat. One of the girls close to her wordlessly handed her a beat up tin mug of water, and she took a huge gulp before realizing that this was probably all these girls had. She hastily handed it back before the temptation to drink all of it overwhelmed her.

"No worries," said one of the tallest, a human girl with dark eyes. "You won't be here long. This is just where they keep the ones who aren't ready to be sold yet."

"Sold? So this is a slave trade." Katie didn't even attempt to disguise the disgust in her voice.

"Yeah." Nearly the entire room answered her. None of them sounded particularly pleased about it. Katie merely shrugged and sat down on the floor.

"Well, I suppose all we've got to do is wait, then."

"What, you're not even upset?" the Elf-Girl squeaked, coming closer and curling against her knee for warmth.

"No, 'cause when The Doctor comes back, he'll get all of us out."

"Who's The Doctor?" everyone asked at once, and Katie beamed at the glimmer of hope that had swept through the room so quickly.

"He's my...guardian." She tested the word for the first time. It sounded nice.

"Oh..." The mood quickly disappeared, and all the girls went back to staring sullenly at the floor, clutching each other for warmth and comfort.

"What?" Katie asked, confused. "What did I say?"

"Nothing," the dark-eyed girl said. "It's just...Our parents couldn't do anything. I don't think your Doctor could either." Katie snorted.

"Just watch him."

* * *

The Sonic buzzed busily as The Doctor fumbled with the lock to his cell. The "containment pod" was more like a souped-up tourist bus than anything else, but it served its purpose. He swore quietly as the lock remained unscathed. Pocketing his Screwdriver, he collapsed on an iron bench against the wall. _Katie..._

What in the name of the Medusa Cascade had he gotten himself into? That girl had him completely wrapped around her finger, and it went without saying that she knew this. Only two days had passed, and she was already his best friend. Oh, who was he kidding? She was his _daughter. _The feeling wasn't unfamiliar to him. He understood perfectly well what sort of affections he felt for her. And it hurt. He still had nightmares involving his children on Galifrey, he would see Jenny die over and over again, and he knew that ultimately, Katie would be hurt, just like them.

But he couldn't bear to send her away. Not now. Not so soon after losing the Ponds. He banged his head against the wall in frustration. Why could he never suck it up and move on like anyone else? The answer glared at him inside his mind even as he asked himself that question.

Because nobody ever really moves on when they lose someone.

There was a _Chunk! _from the door, and The Doctor rose as it slid open. Orgune scowled at him darkly, fingering the holster at her side dangerously. "I would have killed you for such blasphemy..." she snarled. "But all they'll let me do is banish you."

"Well, that's a bit of a relief I suppose," The Doctor answered snidely. "Except that you still have something that I want."

"She is unmarked, you half-wit! She belongs to the Zykrexia."

"And that's my first question for you," The Doctor shot back, refusing to move, although he could see the Tardis parked near where they had landed. "What sort of business goes about snatching up girls and whisking them out of the care of their guardians?" Orgune's eyes flared again, but she turned her back to him and sighed.

"This is...not the way of my people..." she answered haltingly.

"Funny, your friend back there certainly looked like you."

"Shut your trap, Blasphemer. This plot is not of Zykrexan origin. It was derived to save our dying planet, but it is not in keeping with our tradition."

"Well then, who is operating this system?" The Doctor was beginning to feel confused.

"I do not know..." Orgune whispered despairingly. For a moment, she looked so lost and hurt that The Doctor nearly forgave her for Katie's abduction. She shook herself suddenly and turned on him again, brandishing her blaster. "Now leave this planet at once, and if you ever show your face here again, I swear to Gallifrey, I'll blast it off."

"I'm not going until I know where Kathryn is and how to save her."

"You can't. She's been sent to registration. From there, she'll be catalogued into the system and shipped to a trade port anywhere in the galaxy. It'll be impossible to track her."

"Impossible is just a bigger word that means 'more fun.' Now I hope you don't mind my using your first name, Orgune, but it seems to me that you and I are very much in the same boat. I believe I could break this shameful trading system if you help me find my young charge."

"I would never help such a fat-headed, sniveling liar-" Orgune began venomously.

"Good thing I'm not lying then," The Doctor interrupted coolly. "Preform a bioscan if you like, but the point is, we can both get what we want if we work together. Otherwise, I'll find Kathryn on my own and leave your people here to waste away in a pit of sinfulness as your old culture decays."

"You're a fool..." Orgune said, though she sounded a bit more hesitant.

"Foolish people are simply people with abnormal amounts of hope who won't give up. Now tell me exactly how this trading system works, and I can get a message to some friends of mine from my ship over there."

* * *

Katie, meanwhile, had been shuffled out of the holding cell with a handful of other girls, and was being herded up several flights of dark stairs by a handful of bored-looking Zykrexia with nasty-looking guns. They rounded a sharp corner, and she blinked rapidly as they burst into bright light again. The others were all crowding behind her, looking abjectly terrified. As her vision adjusted to the sudden overabundance of light, she took stock of her surroundings. She was in a laboratory of some kind, the walls a glaring white and the counters piled high with chemicals and bubbling philes. There was a loud beep, and a hum, and on her right, the wall unfolded into some sort of disc-shaped platform, tilted towards a strange gun-like mechanism attached to the ceiling.

Katie was suddenly and uncomfortably aware that all the other girls were crowded behind her, trembling slightly and blinking rapidly. She bit her lip to keep from cursing as one of the guards roughly grabbed her arm and drug her over to the dish, hoisting her up easily and throwing her against it. She struggled to stay upright as the surface tilted dangerously. The guard pressed a button on a panel nearby, and she winced as something clamped around her head and wrists, keeping her completely still.

Another button was pressed, and Katie managed to glimpse out of the corner of her eye the other slaves staring at her fearfully, some even sympathetically. She began to feel legitimately worried. There was another beep, and the laser began to descend at an agonizingly slow pace. It stopped, inches away from her face. She began to pull against the straps. The barrel of the weapon tilted until it was aimed directly at her right eye. Katie couldn't keep it in any more. Without even thinking, she screamed the first word that popped into her head as loudly as she was capable.

"DOCTOR!"

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, The Doctor suddenly froze. Orgune regarded him with distaste.

"What?" she demanded. "What is it?"

"Is it just me, or did the room just get colder?"

**A/N: Thanks for the suggestion, Moriah. Now everyone's gonna hate me. :P**

**I am SO sorry this took so long, but at least I got it up in time for Christmas, right? I'll try to be as quick as I can with Chapter Five, but writing takes time, you know. In the meantime, drop a review if you want, and Moriah, make sure Katie knows this is here.**

**Alonsy!**

**-Niki Bogwater**


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